anyone with over air TV in Morris Co

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magic_lantern

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Any NJ members from Morris county use an outdoor TV antenna and if so how many stations do you get, Trying to figure out if its worth mounting one. I did try a non amplified one in the attic and no stations receivable. Need to try on roof. any recommendations.
I tried the RF mapping websites and they really dont help much, looking for actual results.

Thanks
 
MDScanFan

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I do not live in your area but did take a look at the signal map in your county. Based on the results I think you should have received something with a half-way decent attic antenna setup. Since you did not receive anything there are several questions before considering a roof top installation:

- All of the stronger signals in your area are digital signals. Is that what your were trying to receive? Are you sure you were doing that part right?
- Is your attic void of metal lined insulation or a metal roof?
- What type of antenna were you using and how long is your run of coax?
 
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mshumeyk

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Most of North Jersey has hills and Morris County is no exception. Both distance from the transmitter as well as the terrain between you and the transmitter affect reception of line of sight VHF and UHF signals. I live just 5 miles from the main local TV/FM antenna farm here in Upstate NY and can walk to where I can see the towers yet because of the shadow of a hill we barely get TV reception and some FM stations signals are weak at the house. (They resolved the issue with multiple FM transmitters and frequencies for many stations)

You may have a bad antenna setup or you may just be in a dead zone. Some of the NYC TV station transmit from the new World Trade Center while others are on the Empire State Building. A simple way of getting an idea of whether you have a shot at decent reception would be to get an FM radio and check your reception of NY radio stations that transmit from those NYC sites. Radio-Locator.com provides the coordinates and map view of all AM and FM station transmitters. If you get a good signal of the FM stations you should get TV reception.

The hills of Morris County can be your friend if you live on top of one or your downfall if they stand between you and the TV transmitter. I have spent a fair amount of time in the Route 206 corridor and NYC FM reception in the vehicle was not great.
 
w2xq

w2xq

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I find it surprising that you can't receive the NYC TV stations in Morris county. (The rabbit ears website seems overly generous to me.) Having grown up in Hunterdon county, near Flemington, and later living in Willingboro for 5 years, NYC analogue TV reception was very good. Now with cable, buried in the Pine Barrens, I point the backup antenna at Philadelphia.

I would revisit your installation. Orientation, connectors... all that stuff.
 
rr60

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magic_lantern said:
Any NJ members from Morris county use an outdoor TV antenna and if so how many stations do you get, Trying to figure out if its worth mounting one. I did try a non amplified one in the attic and no stations receivable. Need to try on roof. any recommendations.
I tried the RF mapping websites and they really dont help much, looking for actual results.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I would suggest trying to figure out if you have a path to the WTC in lower NYC. Many but not all transmitters are on that tower.

I stay away from amplified antennas as they sometimes create more trouble then they are worth. Long runs of coax create signal loss too. Many antennas have limited bandwith. I chose a compromise. No VHF low, but VHF high and UHF. Winegard HD7694P. Up on chimney.

I am using only 35’ of RG Quad Shield w messenger wire for grounding. Be sure to weather proof (tape,silicone tape,tape) all connections. Look on YouTube. Here is what I get.

TV stations received at Mount Bethel, NJ tuner0

rabbitears.info rabbitears.info
 
900mhz

900mhz

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r60 said:
I would suggest trying to figure out if you have a path to the WTC in lower NYC. Many but not all transmitters are on that tower.

I stay away from amplified antennas as they sometimes create more trouble then they are worth. Long runs of coax create signal loss too. Many antennas have limited bandwith. I chose a compromise. No VHF low, but VHF high and UHF. Winegard HD7694P. Up on chimney.

I am using only 35’ of RG Quad Shield w messenger wire for grounding. Be sure to weather proof (tape,silicone tape,tape) all connections. Look on YouTube. Here is what I get.

TV stations received at Mount Bethel, NJ tuner0

rabbitears.info rabbitears.info
Click to expand...
The shield of the coax needs to be grounded per NEC. The messenger portion of the coax is ONLY there for attaching said coax. Bad advice. That shield of the coax needs to be grounded to the same potential as the grounding of the mast holding the antenna, which in turn should be grounded to the same potential as the building or domicile electrical system. No exceptions.
 
RocketNJ

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I've used a Winegard 7649P on the chimney. I used a mast mount preamp designed for UHF 500 - 750 MHz. I am in northeast Morris County and have the hills of Wayne in my way. Reception was OK, not great. Use good quad shielded RG-6 75 Ohm cable. grounding the cable where it enters the house as someone else recommended is advised. Antennas make good lightning rods. My satellite dish has a lightning arrestor made by PolyPhaser. I use PolyPhaser for my other antennas.

You can expect to get channels 2,4,5,7,9,11,13,31,47, 50 and their sub channels.

For $5 a month I get the main channels from my satellite provider in 1080P so no big deal for the outdoor antenna. Switching back and forth inputs was too confusing for my wife (no wife jokes please :)

I keep it simple for her. There was nothing on the sub channels that made it compelling to keep the outdoor antenna up.

I will say one thing though. Over the air 1080P looked better than Dish Network's locals @ 1080P. Dish adds a little extra compression. Now this was quite a few years ago with the old satellite receiver (model 922 & 942). The Hopper 3 has better picture quality where it is not much difference than over the air.
 
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magic_lantern

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So I did an experiment with an old UHF yagi 450-500 . didnt receive anything that would make it worth buying and setting up an outdoor antenna with a rotator.

picked up between 15 to 20 stations depending on where I pointed the antenna and all but 2 were not english, mostly korean/jap/or chicom.

no ABC, NBC, CBS or anything like that.

I'm on a western side of a hill at about 900 ft ASL , I'm probably about 75 to 100 feet below this hill so the NYC stations are not good. no "knife edge diffraction" in play here.
 
holmziep

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If you get nothing after you ..."did try a non amplified one in the attic and no stations receivable" I wouldn't expect anything different if you moved it up to the roof. There is just something wrong with your set-up, assuming your TV is less than 16 years old.

We all assume you: have a tv or a stand-alone receiver that is designed to tune "off-the -air" broadcasts; Have the external antenna's "F" connector with a straight center conductor "stinger" properly inserted and tightened to the antenna connector; Have a balun at the antenna to change from 75 ohm catv coax to 300 ohm flat wire antenna connection; Know how to "Autoprogram" your tv to register the various channels. You haven't told us what kind of "non-amplified" antenna you tried. Do you know which way to point it, or which is the front of the antenna? (if it's directional?)

I am in Summit, only watch Broadcast TV beside internet. Most broadcasters moved to UHF which has much less coverage than VHF. But I think ABC is still in the RF channel 7 spot, so it would be easiest to get, and if you are lucky to have an older TV antenna with VHF low band, WJLP broadcasts from NYC on RF Channel 3! I think there is another, perhaps Channel 13 on RF channel 12 now? You can find out here or on some of the various websites. But you SHOULD get several channels. I am only 6 miles east of you. I get 2,3,4, 5,7, 9, 11,13 14, 21, 23?, and about 8 more. With all the "sub" channels, the total is close to 72 or more.

Good Luck, keep at it.
73's

holmzie, N2EXG portable Summit NJ
Board Member OMARC
Chaplin Summit Elks Lodge 1246
Spring Lake Heights Fire Dept Assoc Member
 
holmziep

holmziep

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AHH! You Do get something, Magic... Sorry I didn't read your last post as I was writing this much to long reply!!

holmzie, N2EXG portable Summit NJ
Board Member OMARC
Chaplin Summit Elks Lodge 1246
Spring Lake Heights Fire Dept Assoc Member
 
RadioChief55

RadioChief55

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From Toms River, about 20 feet off the ground with this cheap antenna (link below) I was able to get NY CH 2, 4, 5 and sometimes 11. All UHF channels, now they would break up and freeze at times, but I did get them. NY CH 7, VHF I couldn't get at all. Same thing when I turned the antenna towards Philly, and I had some UFH channels but they weren't great and Philly CH6, that is VHF I got nothing at all. And I figured I would get VHF with no issue, but that's not the case.

 
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